I suppose you live in Buckingham Palace, Alex.
Here's bad news for you:
Recent statistics from Britain indicate that a citizen is attacked in their own home by a violent burglar once every 30 minutes. Those statistics, along with my thoughts on British gun control, the British ban on self defense, and what all this means for law-abiding British citizens, can be seen below:
A householder is attacked by a violent burglar every 30 minutes. . . According to the BCS, householders came face-to-face with burglars in 20 per cent of domestic burglaries last year. . . Of the burglaries in which the victim came face-to-face with the intruder, violence was either used or threatened in 59 per cent of crimes. . . It was actually used in 40 per cent of cases. . . Tories estimated that householders came face-to-face with burglars in 57,000 – 20 per cent – of burglaries. . . Of these, 23,000 resulted in the burglar using violence against the householder.
The folly of British gun control
In a
knee-jerk reaction to a pair of high-profile shootings,
the British government enacted strict gun control at the national level. These anti gun laws went as far as to
ban the .22 target pistols used by the British Olympic Pistol Team, forcing those athletes to go to Switzerland and France to practice their sport.
However, the gun ban laws didn’t stop criminals from acquiring and misusing guns. Instead, British criminals buy their guns the
black market, or simply
manufacture their own illegal guns. Crime statistics reflect this fact, showing a
40% increase in handgun related crime in the first two years after the gun ban took effect, and a
doubling of gun-related crime in the first decade after the gun ban took effect."
So, please, take your pink glasses off.
I do not live in Buckingham Palace, I live in a perfectly normal semi-rural (by British standards - likely to be viewed more as suburban by those in the US) area outside a costal town. I was born here and moved away for 10 years while at university and doing my first job.
There has been one shooting which I can remember, which was a dispute brought down from London into a club.
I lived in Birmingham City centre for 8 years while a student, as Britain's second city it has it's fair share of crime and criminals. I had 3 attempted street robberies when I probably marked myself out as a target, drunk, alone and lost in the early hours of the morning. All had the "threat of violence", only one involved a weapon (knife), none were particularly successful for the perpetrator, one gained an empty wallet for his trouble, the other two got a selection of the following: two broken wrists, one broken jaw, a broken nose and a broken ankle. We're these Violent Crimes? I don't know, but I suppose they were for some of the participants. Was I prosecuted for defending myself? No, it was never even suggested as I used what was deemed Reasonable Force, the right I have under UK law, so your point about having a "ban on self-defence" are totally unfounded.
My point is that i still would never consider leaving the house with even a pocket knife for use in 'defence' of myself, the need simply isn't there. Does that mean I'd feel the same way if I lived in Compton or Watts, both places I found myself in by accident only a couple of weeks ago, no is the answer. It's horses for courses.
The UK has a long history of drunken brawling, par for the course for many on a night out, however, there is very little violent crime per capita when judged by US definitions of violent crime.
One of your sources, the Daily Mail, a so called newspaper would blame everything on gay Muslim immigrants if it could. It uses a culture of fear amongst the elderly to sell papers and is a joke amongst most. Another of your sources cites a Tory source, so is victim of political spin.
Undoubtably crimes involving violence are increasing in the UK, however, I'd be interested to see the true figures once moderated for increasing population, increased ability to report (cell phones) and detection through means other than reporting by victim or witness (CCTV, we have more cameras than anywhere else). The other thing to bear in mind is how statistics are manipulated to prove a point; "Danger of deaths from falling apples increase 100% in a single year! Blame gay Mexican bears, get them out of our country" screams the headline, 2 deaths in one year in a population of 350 million, up from one last year and nothing to do with bears, homosexual or otherwise, states the fact.
There is a reason the majority of police in the UK don't carry firearms, they don't want to. If the need was there, the situation would change.
I won't accuse you of wearing gloom tinted glasses as I've got no idea of where you live or your personal situation, however, take it from someone who lives in the UK, is a lifelong shooter (27 years of 33 so far) and is neither paranoid or deluded: UK gun control laws work well enough, they do not need to be loosened and the general population do not live in fear of being slaughtered in their beds.
All I'm doing is relaying my experiences based in a country very different to your own. Take them or leave them but don't tell me I'm wrong.
